The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Geranium plant botanically known as Pelargonium x hortorum and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘TOSTD0342’.
The new cultivar originated in a controlled breeding program in Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, the Netherlands during July 2015. The objective of the breeding program was the development of Geranium cultivars that flower uniformly and have large flowers, dark green-colored foliage, and a moderately vigorous, upright-mounded growth habit.
The new Geranium cultivar is the result of cross-pollination. The female (seed) parent of the new cultivar is CALLIOPE Burgundy ‘Cope Burg’, not patented, characterized by its semi-double type, dark burgundy-colored flowers, medium green-colored foliage having zonation, and moderately vigorous, upright-mounded growth habit. The male (pollen) parent of the new cultivar is Bernd ‘Toscabernd’, also sold as Presto Dark Red ‘Tospresdared’, not patented, characterized by its semi-double type, dark burgundy-colored flowers, dark green-colored foliage having zonation, low vigor and an upright-mounded growth habit. The new cultivar was discovered and selected as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the above stated cross-pollination during August 2016 in a controlled environment in Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, the Netherlands.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal stem cuttings since August 2016 in Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, the Netherlands and Arroyo Grande, Calif. has demonstrated that the new cultivar reproduces true to type with all of the characteristics, as herein described, firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of such asexual propagation.